Contract, Staff & First Game

Jürgen Klopp is the new Germany head coach. The German Football Association (DFB) unveiled the 59-year-old at its Frankfurt headquarters on Friday 24 July 2026, handing one of the most decorated club managers of his generation his first ever role in international football.

Klopp takes charge of the four-time world champions after a chastening summer, one in which Germany crashed out of the expanded 48-team tournament at the brand-new Round of 32 stage. That exit ended Julian Nagelsmann’s reign and reopened a job that many supporters and officials had long wanted Klopp to take.

Why Klopp, and Why Now

Germany’s search for a new manager began the moment Nagelsmann resigned in the wake of a shock round-of-32 defeat to Paraguay, settled on penalties after a tense stalemate. It was the third straight major-tournament disappointment for a nation that once set the standard at World Cups, following group-stage exits at both the 2018 and 2022 editions.

For the DFB, Klopp was the standout candidate from the start. He arrives with a reputation for building spirited, high-energy teams and for getting the very best out of young players, exactly the qualities a rebuilding Germany side needs. DFB president Bernd Neuendorf confirmed the association had made Klopp its priority target and pushed hard to secure him.

Securing Klopp was not straightforward. He had been working as Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer since January 2025, having stepped away from front-line management when he left Liverpool in May 2024. Reports suggest the DFB agreed a release arrangement with Red Bull, including a reported one million euro donation, to bring him back to the touchline.

Klopp’s Backroom Team

Klopp is not arriving alone. He brings several trusted lieutenants with him into the international set-up, a familiar core from his most successful years in club football.

Long-time assistant Peter Krawietz continues at his side, as does Pepijn Lijnders, who shared in Klopp’s Liverpool trophy haul before a spell of his own in management. Former Germany international and ex-Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender completes the on-pitch coaching support. Off the pitch, former defender Per Mertesacker steps in as the federation’s managing director for sport, overseeing the men’s national teams and strengthening the pathway from the youth ranks to the senior side.

A CV Few Can Match

Klopp’s coaching journey began at Mainz 05, the club where he had spent more than a decade as a player. In 2004 he led Mainz into the Bundesliga for the first time in their history, working with one of the smallest budgets in the division.

Borussia Dortmund came calling in 2008, and within three seasons Klopp had broken Bayern Munich’s grip on the Bundesliga, winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012 along with the German Cup. He then guided Dortmund to a UEFA Champions League final. His nine-year Anfield era brought Champions League and Premier League glory and cemented his standing as one of the finest managers of the modern game. His clubs have appeared in several European Cup showpieces down the years, as our full record of Champions League finals and winners shows.

What Klopp has never done, until now, is manage a national team. At 59, and after more than two decades in the club game, the Germany job represents an entirely new chapter.

In Klopp’s Own Words

Presented to the media in Frankfurt, an emotional Klopp described the moment as a great honour and admitted the previous few days had felt almost like a film playing out around him. He framed the appeal of the role in national, unifying terms.

“The national team can unite us Germans better than anything else.”
Jürgen Klopp

He promised an approach built on humility and patience, and a team that fights for one another and that supporters can get fully behind. He also issued a pointed warning to the press: intrude on his family, he said, and he would simply walk away from the job. DFB chiefs left no doubt about their conviction in the choice.

“He was our first choice for the role.”
Bernd Neuendorf, DFB president

The Challenges Waiting for Klopp

The in-tray is full. Klopp must decide whether Joshua Kimmich keeps the captaincy, and he faces the delicate task of finding a long-term successor to Manuel Neuer following the veteran goalkeeper’s international retirement. Beyond selection, there is a bigger project: restoring belief to a side still searching for its first major trophy since the 2014 World Cup.

There is little time to settle in. Klopp’s first competitive window is unforgiving, with a cluster of Nations League fixtures packed into a short space. His reign begins on 24 September 2026 against the Netherlands, followed by meetings with Greece and Serbia, an immediate test of how quickly he can imprint his ideas on the group.